


A Uniquely Human Way of Ordering the Future

by jdphoenix



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-08-02
Updated: 2013-08-02
Packaged: 2017-12-22 05:41:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/909578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jdphoenix/pseuds/jdphoenix
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There's something Jennifer needs from Derek before he finds out she's the Darach.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Uniquely Human Way of Ordering the Future

 

 

_“Who are you?”_

_“Derek.”_

_“I’m Jennifer.”_

Her steps falter when she catches sight of Derek. He’s gone tense. He clutches his lit phone in one hand.

_Does he know?_

She hovers uncertainly in the doorway, ready to flee, and then he looks up at her. His whole body relaxes all at once and he slips the ringing phone into his pocket. His smile’s not quite as bright as it was this afternoon. There’s a little strain around his eyes that wasn’t there earlier, but he’s still smiling just for her.

She meets him halfway across the room. His arms fit perfectly around her back and she wraps hers around his neck. He’s warm, hot even after the chill outside. She sighs out the leftover tension of her fight with Scott and the Sheriff. His smile brightens just a little.

“I can’t stay,” he says but other than a slight distancing of their hips, he doesn’t move away. “Cora’s in the hospital. I don’t know what’s wrong with her. I only left because you weren’t answering your cell.”

“Right,” she says. She doesn’t actually have her phone. “I left it at school.” She hopes none of the kids took it. There’s nothing it can tell them but she has enough on her plate without having to buy a new one. “There was another murder,” she adds.

The dull curve of Derek’s nails slide along the side of her neck and his fingers push into her hair. “I thought so. I heard …”

_Lydia._

“I don’t know.” He shakes his head as if to clear it. “I’m gonna spend the night at the hospital with Cora. You should get home.”

As he pulls away her hand slides down his arm to catch his fingers. He looks back and leers a little at their hands.

“I really have to go.”

She bites back a laugh and holds tighter when he makes to leave.

“I want you to promise me something,” she says. She slides her thumb over his knuckles.

“I’ll be careful. I’m really not trying to get killed.” He tries to sound like it’s a joke, tries to pull her to him. She stands her ground.

“I’m not worried about you dying. I’ve seen you survive two pretty unsurvivable things since we met, after all.”

“There are worse things,” he says quietly.

_He doesn't need to tell her._

“I’m worried about those _people_.” She has to fight to hold back some of her hate when she says the word because the Alpha Pack are anything but. “I know you say you’re not going to give them what they want, you won’t become one of them-”

“I _won’t_. I _promise_.” This time he comes to her, closes the distance between them and kisses her like he’s sealing the promise. He’s holding her again and her hands are moving down his chest to his hips.

_Just a little more time._

“Maybe I have a few extra minutes,” he says against her lips.

She laughs and hooks a finger through one of his belt loops to tug him towards the bedroom. Her knuckles brush the top of his pocket and she can feel the vibration when his phone starts ringing inside. Their foreheads drop onto each other’s shoulders.

“Maybe I don’t,” Derek says wryly.

She presses her palm flat against the opening of his pocket as the phone rings again. He looks up at her with wide eyes.

“Just … don’t forget your promise.”

He peels her hand away from his hip and squeezes it once before dropping it to reach for the phone. She catches sight of an S in the caller ID. No matter which one of them it is, it’s time to go.

She hears a faint beeping but he doesn’t say anything. A text then. She makes it twice as far as she expected to - he must’ve read it twice - before he’s got her pinned against the wall. His fangs are bared before her and his claws scrape against her neck.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you right now,” he says.

_He’s looking for a reason._

Her lips turn up and he presses her throat a little harder.

“I can save your sister.”

“ _ **What did you do to her?**_ ”

She chokes. He’s not breaking bones but she can feel her esophagus pressing shut. After several very long seconds he releases the pressure.

“I haven’t touched her but that doesn’t mean I can’t help her.”

His grip loosens just a little but the pressure never lets up.

“Why should I trust you? All you’ve ever done is lie to me.”

She smiles and she can see how it hurts him. This little thing, such a small part of her, that’s just _so different_ from a few short minutes ago.

“I only ever told you one lie, Derek-” He laughs, harsh and quick. She doesn’t let it stop her. “And when you realize what that is, you need to remember something.”

This interests him, if only enough that he doesn’t choke her again.

“I forgive you,” she says and means it.

She thinks he might rip her head off right then and there except she’s promised him his sister’s life.

* * *

His sister’s going to be fine. So is the Sheriff. His life for another day before she has to fight the Alphas is well worth it.

“He’ll be home before you are,” she tells Stiles.

“He’d better be,” the boy says, rage fairly rolling off him.

She rolls her eyes and turns her attention to Derek, still crouching by his sister’s side. “You made me a promise. I expect you to keep it.” She turns to walk out but not before she sees him rise with a growl. He stalks after her into the hall. There are no other footsteps. The others, it seems, have the sense to stay away.

“Do you honestly think I owe you _anything_?” he demands. He’s dogging her steps, so close she can feel his breath on her neck. She keeps her back straight and tries hard not to think of the morning she woke up to him sniffing her, his breath falling over her shoulders as he committed her scent to memory.

“You gave your word to the woman you loved; I’d have thought a man like you would honor that.”

Again he’s got her against the wall. There are no fangs, no claws, not even the bright red of an alpha’s eyes. He’s just one very pissed off man.

“You remember this: I will never forgive what you’ve done. The only thing I feel for you - the only thing I feel for that woman I thought you were - is _hate_.”

_Now who’s lying?_

“You love me,” she says softly, certainly.

He shakes his head, almost like he pities her but she knows any pity he has in this situation is only for himself.

“I hate you - and _that_ is a promise.” He turns his back on her - foolish or trusting or just too angry to care - and heads back towards his sister’s room.

“ _You love me_.”


End file.
